Open Letter to Printing Industries of America Board of Directors

Open Letter to Printing Industries of America Board of Directors

As a long-time PIA member and supporter, we feel we have a responsibility to speak up when our industry’s flagship organization is failing its membership.

We’ll get right to the point: our national board doesn’t show the gender diversity we expect to see– namely, women business owners and printing leaders are woefully underrepresented. Of the 28 PIA board members, only two are women.

Why is this?

When a young woman researching careers visits the PIA Board of Directors web page, what is she supposed to think? Does she see a successful future in printing? We are sending the wrong message to the upcoming generation of print leaders by not having a truer representation of the men AND women who work to improve our craft every day.

Is it that you don’t welcome women or don’t want them involved in these leadership roles?

Gender diversity leads to greater innovation and advancement. Better problem-solving and ideation. Clearer perspective and vision. Not giving women a voice is a detriment to our industry.

Most importantly, what are you going to do to correct the problem?

The lack of women business owners and leaders on the PIA Board is an embarrassment to all of us who are PIA members.

We ask all printing industry leaders who read this letter to ask themselves what they can do to help correct this incredibly unjust situation. Staying silent and doing nothing is participating in the problem.

Please let PIA President and CEO Michael Makin know how you feel. Call him at (412) 259-1777 or email him at mmakin@printing.org.

Here at Allen Press, Inc., we want to continue to be part of the PIA community. However, our commitment to social impact means we can no longer fund or lend our support to an organization that is becoming more and more irrelevant by its own lack of gender diversity.